first resurrection

[HiJolly]

Ok to the "best of there ability." I'm not married. I hope to find some one in this life tho. Lets say I do not, but live the Plan of Salvation to the best of my ability. That means I will find some one in the Spirit World to marry? I was under the assumption I will find some. The way I personally view things now - If I try my best to keep the Covenants I have made, and work on being a better person, and try to find a sister to marry, then if I do not find that sister in this life I will find her in the Spirit World.

Yes, that is my understanding. You got it!

HiJolly

[HiJolly]

I've actually been taught that paradise and prison are the same place. That's it's actually a matter of your own personal satisfaction or guilt while you await judgment. That, essentially, it's a prison for those who failed, but paradise for those who can rest assured that they succeeded...

Anyone else taught this?

Yes. It is the same sort of place, in terms of 'rules' 'natural laws' and so forth. Those in Paradise have freedom of association and the ability for limited travel to an extent far beyond those in Prison. But that's just what I've heard from some people and I agree with it.

HiJolly

[justamere10]

Excerpts from the Gospel Principes Manual.

Divisions in the Spirit World

The prophet Alma in the Book of Mormon taught about two divisions or states in the spirit world:

"The spirits of those who are righteous are received into a state of happiness, which is called paradise, a state of rest, a state of peace, where they shall rest from all their troubles and from all care, and sorrow.

"And then shall it come to pass, that the spirits of the wicked, yea, who are evil--for behold, they have no part nor portion of the Spirit of the Lord; for behold, they chose evil works rather than good; therefore the spirit of the devil did enter into them, and take possession of their house--and these shall be cast out into outer darkness; there shall be weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth, and this because of their own iniquity, being led captive by the will of the devil.

"Now this is the state of the souls of the wicked, yea, in darkness, and a state of awful, fearful looking for the fiery indignation of the wrath of God upon them; thus they remain in this state, as well as the righteous in paradise, until the time of their resurrection" (Alma 40:12-14).

The spirits are classified according to the purity of their lives and their obedience to the will of the Lord while on earth. The righteous and the wicked are separated (see 1 Nephi 15:28-30), but the spirits may progress from one level to another as they learn gospel principles and live in accordance with them (see Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p. 762).

Paradise

According to the prophet Alma, the righteous spirits rest from earthly care and sorrow. Nevertheless, they are occupied in doing the work of the Lord. President Joseph F. Smith saw in a vision that immediately after Jesus Christ was crucified, he visited the righteous in the spirit world. He appointed messengers, gave them power and authority, and commissioned them to "carry the light of the gospel to them that were in darkness, even to all the spirits of men" (D&C 138:30).

The Church is organized in the spirit world, with each prophet standing at the head of his own generation (see Joseph Smith, History of the Church, 4:209). Priesthood holders continue their responsibilities in the spirit world. President Wilford Woodruff taught: "The same Priesthood exists on the other side of the veil. . . . Every Apostle, every Seventy, every Elder, etc., who has died in the faith as soon as he passes to the other side of the veil, enters into the work of the ministry" (in Journal of Discourses, 22:333-34).

Family relationships are also important. President Jedediah M. Grant, a counselor to Brigham Young, saw the spirit world and described to Heber C. Kimball the organization that exists there: "He said that the people he there saw were organized in family capacities. . . . He said, 'When I looked at families, there was a deficiency in some, . . . for I saw families that would not be permitted to come and dwell together, because they had not honored their calling here' " (Heber C. Kimball, in Journal of Discourses, 4:135-36).

Spirit Prison

The Apostle Peter referred to the spirit world as a prison, which it is for some (see 1 Peter 3:18-20). In the spirit prison are the spirits of those who have not yet received the gospel of Jesus Christ. These spirits have agency and may be enticed by both good and evil. If they accept the gospel and the ordinances performed for them in the temples, they may prepare themselves to leave the spirit prison and dwell in paradise.

Also in the spirit prison are those who rejected the gospel after it was preached to them on earth or in the spirit prison. These spirits suffer in a condition known as hell. They have removed themselves from the mercy of Jesus Christ, who said, "Behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent; but if they would not repent they must suffer even as I; which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit" (D&C 19:16-18). After suffering in full for their sins, they will be allowed to inherit the lowest degree of glory, which is the telestial kingdom.

The hell in the spirit world will not continue forever. Even the spirits who have committed the greatest sins will have suffered sufficiently by the end of the Millennium (see Acts 2:25-27). They will then be resurrected.

http://www.lds.org/library/display/0,4945,11-1-13-57,00.html

[richlittell]

Ok to the "best of there ability." I'm not married. I hope to find some one in this life tho. Lets say I do not, but live the Plan of Salvation to the best of my ability. That means I will find some one in the Spirit World to marry? I was under the assumption I will find some. The way I personally view things now - If I try my best to keep the Covenants I have made, and work on being a better person, and try to find a sister to marry, then if I do not find that sister in this life I will find her in the Spirit World.

It just wouldn't make gospel sense to say that someone who was not able to marry in this life won't have that opportunity in the millennium. There will be a whole lot of setting things right in the millenium on a lot of different issues---it's a thousand years, after all. No one who is worthy enough for the Celestial Kingdom needs to worry about not getting married in this life (unless they intentionally avoid it).